Following Turkish construction companies’ complaint during May that they could not find enough rebar in the domestic market as Turkish rebar producers were focusing on the export markets instead of the domestic market, in the first week of June a total of 22,500 mt of non-certified, outdated and rusted rebar were sent to different ports in Turkey from Italy and deals for such rebar are still being concluded, according to the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD).
The TCUD stated that Italian steelmakers had produced these products for the Algerian market according to Algerian standard ANFOR, but after waiting about one-and-a-half years they sold the products they could not sell to Algeria to buyers in Turkey. The TCUD stated that the mentioned products should not be used in Turkey, which is located in an earthquake zone, in order to ensure construction safety and to protect domestic producers, because the products are outdated and corroded and also as they do not comply with Turkish TS 708 standard.